Musume
by Azure Neko
Summary: An indescretion in the past finally catches up to InuYasha...
1. Chapter 1

Musume

Chapter 1

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Hey, this is my first fic so I just thought I'd say a few things.

Firstly, if you catch me using bad grammar or spelling something wrong, please tell me right away. Those things are a pet peeve of mine and I make a habit of calling other people on it, so if I make a mistake I want to know.

Second, a warning to all those flamers out there: I relish a good battle of insults, and I will consider any flames to be a challenge to combat. If you flame me, expect to be made fun of very publicly. br

Last, a comment about the length of the chapter. I don't like to read long chapters, so I almost always write short chapters, and this one is especially short due to the fact that I recently broke my finger, so typing is difficult for me right now. It will probably remain this way for about six weeks, which is when they are going to take the cast off.

Alright, thank you for your patience. On with the story!

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Inu-Yasha gazed lazily at the villagers gathered to watch Miroku's 'exorcism.' Every time Miroku pulled this trick, the half- demon kept expecting someone to catch on and denounce them, but they never did. Humans were just too gullible sometimes. It was probably just because they feared demons so much that they let themselves be fooled so easily, but it still disgusted him.

After Miroku finished his well-worn scam, the villagers dispersed and the traveler's began settling down for the night. Sitting on the front porch of their host's house, Inu-Yasha watched the others go about their business. There was a path that ran across the side of the house which led to a good well, judging by the number of people he saw walking by laden with buckets of water. It was a hot day; no doubt they needed to irrigate vegetable gardens. One young woman happened to catch his eye. She was of average height, impossibly slender, and looked almost fragile, yet she was carrying a pair of full buckets that seemed far too large with no apparent effort. Her slightly worn yukata was tinted a lovely light green, as was a scarf that covered her head despite the heat, and she was wearing a necklace that looked as though it might be gold. The sun flashing off the necklace was what had attracted his attention in the first place, and the contradictions in her appearance made him curious enough to stare. As if sensing his regard, she glanced towards him. She must have seen something that startled her, for she suddenly whipped her head around to stare back at him, stumbling and spilling her buckets in the process. Even more curious now, Inu-Yasha walked over to the embarrassed lass and offered her a hand up.

"Hey, are you all right?" he asked. She nodded slightly, her eyes wide. For some reason this made Inu-Yasha feel obscurely guilty, so he covered his discomfort by picking up the discarded buckets. "A girl like you shouldn't be trying to carry this much water. You'll hurt yourself."

"No, I'll be fine. I'm stronger than I look. You startled me, is all." Brushing herself off, she tried to take the buckets from him, but he refused to give them up.

"Right. My face was so scary that it startled you." He turned and started walking towards the well. "Come on. I'll help you fetch the water." The girl was forced to follow along.

"Your face isn't scary."

As they moved towards the well, Inu-Yasha noticed the girl staring at his face intently, as if searching for something. In an attempt to outdistance her unnerving gaze, he lengthened his steps into a ground eating gait that most humans had trouble keeping up with. It wasn't quite a run, but it was a lot faster than his usual walk. To his surprise, she broke into an easy trot and remained at his side. Looking back at her, he noticed that her eyes were a startling golden color. He didn't realize it, but they were the exact shade of his own.

At the well Inu-Yasha quickly filled the two buckets and turned back the way they had come.

" Why don't you show me the way to your garden now, lass." The girl; Inu-Yasha realized he still didn't know her name; nodded and led the way. Now loaded down with the heavy buckets, the half-demon had to stretch a bit to keep up with her. "Hey, lass, I don't know your name yet."

"I'm called Aisa. And you?"

"Inu-Yasha" When he spoke his name, he thought he saw a note of recognition in her eyes, but it disappeared so quickly that he couldn't be sure.

"My garden is this way. Thank you for helping with the water." As Aisa spoke, they approached a small hut near the edge of the village. She led him around the back, where an unbelievably old woman crouched in a prosperous vegetable garden, pulling out weeds. As they entered the garden, she sat up and greeted them.

"Aisa, who's that you've got carrying your water for you, you lazy girl. Come closer and let me see his face." The lady's great crinkly grin belied her scolding words, and both Inu-Yasha and Aisa's mouths tugged upwards in an answering smile.

"Of course, haha." replied Aisa. Inu-Yasha set down the water before allowing her to tug him towards her mother. She stopped a few steps away, but pushed the half-demon onwards gently. Her mother took a firm hold of his chin and pulled it very close to her face, examining him carefully with eyes that were rheumy and clouded with age.

"Well lad, your face seems very familiar, but I can't quite.." Her words broke off as she looked at the top of his head. Without warning, her hands grabbed at his ears and tugged them weakly. Her eyes became wide as old eggs, and her lips trembled a little. "I-Inu-Yasha?" It came out in a whisper. "Kami-sama, you haven't changed a bit." His confusion must have shown on his face, for her expression softened into a sad smile. "Ah, you probably don't recognize Sanchi. It has been over fifty years."

"Sanchi?" Inu-Yasha frowned slightly. He leaned over a little, taking in her scent, and suddenly recognized her. "Oh! Sanchi!" he exclaimed, putting his arms around her.

"So you do remember? That stormy night?"

"Ohh yeah, I remember." He exchanged a toothy grin with Sanchi, unaware of how odd they looked, an old woman and a young man embracing like that.

"That was wonderful." she said, leaning into him. Then she turned her head to look at Aisa. "She's beautiful, isn't she? Our daughter?"

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Muwahaha, evil cliffhanger. You'll just have to wait til next time to see how Inu-Yasha reacts to this revelation. Please review! 


	2. Chapter 2

**Musume ****Chapter 2**

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Hey, I'm back finally. I know it probably feels like I up and died on you, but I'm here. Sorry for the ultra long wait. Will try to do better in the future, but I'm afraid there are no guarantees. Please bear with me!

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"That was wonderful." Sanchi said, leaning into him. Then she turned her head to look at Aisa. "She's beautiful, isn't she? Our daughter?"

"What?" Inu-Yasha stared at her and Aisa uncomprehendingly.

"Aisa, show him please."

"Yes, haha." The girl then carefully undid the scarf around her head, releasing a torrent of hair to spill down her back. Her locks were mostly black like her mother's, except for two strands of hair framing her face that shone a bright silver. The ears poking through the hair were ever so slightly pointed, and when he released her mother to take a closer look at her Inu-Yasha realized that her scent now seemed like his own, human and demon mixed. He wondered for a moment that he hadn't noticed it before, then looked at her scarf and realized it held many pungent herbs.

"Well I'll be damned." Inu-Yasha whispered, not aware he had lowered his voice. He touched the silver hair on the side of her face timidly, as if afraid it would dissolve under his fingers.

"So it's true? You really are…" Aisa let her sentence trail off unfinished, seeming just as stunned. He could only nod. To his surprise, she suddenly stepped forward and grabbed hold of him, burying her face in his chest as the salty smell of tears reached his nose. He stood there awkwardly staring into the distance, not sure if he should embrace her or not. So he saw when Kagome came around the side of the hut and saw him there. He could only watch as emotions flitted across her face and she visibly came to the worst possible conclusion in a mere instant.

"Kagome!" Inu-Yasha tried to sidestep out of Aisa's grip to chase after the silently fleeing miko, but she would not let go. "Damn." Aisa drew back a bit and looked at him with a slightly shocked expression, though she did not release him.

"Inu-Yasha, who is that girl?" Sanchi asked innocently.

"She's one of my companions. Her name is Kagome."

"And what is she to you?" Aisa's eyes held the suspicion her mother's lacked. Inu-Yasha fidgeted a little, well aware of the trap hidden in the question and clueless as how to avoid it.

"He just told you, child. She is his companion." Inu-Yasha did his best not to broadcast his relief at Sanchi's neat rescue. "Now, why don't we go introduce ourselves to them." She took a firm hold on Inu-Yasha's arm and steered him in the direction of his lodgings for the night, not so incidentally pulling him out of her daughter's grasp.

They walked up to the rich dwelling Miroku's conniving had obtained for the night with Sanchi still hanging on Inu-Yasha's arm. Aisa had put her hair back up in her scarf, hiding the silver strands and her scent. Sango sat on the porch polishing her giant boomerang. She looked up as they approached.

"Inu-Yasha. Kagome was looking for you."

"Yeah, she found me. There's been a misunderstanding." He scowled.

"Oh? What did you do this time, baka?"

"I said it was a misunderstanding. Where's everyone else? I don't want to repeat myself."

"Shippo and Miroku are inside. Kagome hasn't come back yet."

"Shit. I'll have to go find her before she gets into trouble. Sanchi, Aisa, wait here with Sango." Cursing under his breath, Inu-Yasha back-tracked to catch Kagome's scent. He had half-hoped that she would run straight back to the house to cry, but no such luck. Not surprisingly, when he found the trail it led him out into the forest where he soon spotted her weeping underneath a willow tree.

"Kagome?" he called.

"Go away, Inu-Yasha." she said without even looking up. He moved closer in spite of that and crouched down in front of her.

"Kagome, listen. That wasn't what it looked like." As she looked up at him, Inu-Yasha did his best to put sincerity in his eyes.

"Then what was it?"

"It was; she's" the half-demon scrambled for the right words, lost them, and settled for bluntness. "Aisa's my daughter, Kagome."

"What?" The miko stared uncomprehendingly at him, her face mirroring the shock he had felt earlier.

"She's my daughter." He repeated. He shifted uncomfortably. " I didn't know until just recently. But there isn't any doubt she's mine." He watched for a moment in sympathy as Kagome's mouth worked silently in shock. "Come on. We need to go back to the village." He hoisted her onto his back and ran without another word between them.

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Probably a lousy place to end it, but I want to post this sucker. Hope I haven't lost any body with the long wait, Please review! 


	3. Chapter 3

Hey, I finally got the damn thing done. This chapter gave me entirely too much trouble. So much so that I almost gave up. But not quite, and here it is.

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Musume Chapter 3

"What?" The miko stared uncomprehendingly at him, her face mirroring the shock he had felt earlier.  
"She's my daughter." He repeated. He shifted uncomfortably. " I didn't know until just recently. But there isn't any doubt she's mine." He watched for a moment in sympathy as Kagome's mouth worked silently in shock. "Come on. We need to go back to the village." He hoisted her onto his back and ran without another word between them.  
They arrived at their host's home in minutes and brought every one inside to talk. Kagome sat firmly on the opposite side of the room from Inu-Yasha and refused to look directly at him, surveying a space next to his head instead. Of course, he was having a hard time looking his friends in the face as well, his discomfort with the situation made worse by Sanchi claiming his arm as soon as he sat down. Miroku alternating giving him looks of sympathy and staring lustfully at Aisa wasn't helping either. Taking his courage in his hands, he broke the intense silence.  
"Um, Sanchi, Aisa, these are my companions. This is Kagome, Sango, Shippo, and Miroku." He said awkwardly, pointing to his friends in turn. Aisa and her mother nodded to each of them respectfully. "Everyone, meet Sanchi and," he gulped nervously, "our daughter, Aisa"  
"What?" Four set of eyes became rounder than seemed physically possible as even Kirara stared at Inu-Yasha in astonishment. Only Kagome remained aloof, her pupils barely showing through slitted lids.  
"You never told us you had such a beautiful daughter, Inu-Yasha ." Miroku smiled, edging close to Aisa. Auras suddenly flamed with rage as Miroku clasped the girl's hands tightly and gazed into her eyes in an all too familiar way. "My dear Aisa, would you-" THOCK! THOCK! Sango's boomerang bone and Inu-Yasha's fist made contact with the impure monk's head within instants of each other.  
"You didn't really think I'd let you try that with my daughter, pervert?" Inu-Yasha asked the prone form of his friend.  
"I don't think he can hear you." said Shippo thoughtfully.  
While Miroku recovered from his own stupidity, Sango and Shippo assaulted Inu-Yasha with rapid-fire questions. When they began coming too fast for even a demon's ears to follow, let alone answer, Sanchi put a finger to each of their mouths, silencing them.  
"I think this will go faster if Inu-Yasha and I just tell you how we met, about sixty years ago"  
"Yes, that's a very good idea. How exactly did you get a daughter and not know it, dog-boy?" The hanyou flinched, knowing the old insult meant he'd really dug himself deep with Kagome this time.  
"Well, er, it was really closer to fifty-five years ago, not very long before I met Kikyo, when I was just wandering around Japan. That night there was a killer rainstorm pouring down, and I took shelter in a cave by the waterfall north of here, out of the wet. The thunder and the wind were so loud I couldn't even hear the little fire I built crackling. I never noticed Sanchi outside until she stumbled into the cave proper and twisted her ankle on the way down"  
"You noticed me in time to catch me before I hit the ground." Sanchi smiled at the memory.  
"Keh. I only caught you 'cause you were headed for my fire. You would have put it out, wet as you were"  
But there was a small smile on his face as well. "I could hardly kick her out in the storm, so I let her dry herself by my fire. Next thing I knew she'd fallen asleep, and there was only one blanket between the two of us. She would have frozen to death without it, and I wasn't keen on going without either, so I just sorta draped it over the both of us"  
"Blanket? I thought it was your red robe"  
"Whatever. Anyway, we slept through the rest of the storm"  
"Yes, and then I got to wake you up." Sanchi's smile was much wider now, and resembled one of Miroku's rather strongly. Inu-Yasha's face turned the most fascinating color of red, which only seemed to encourage her. She caressed his face with one gnarled finger, the tip of which was surprisingly soft. "As I recall, you turned this exact color of red when you figured out that I was…mmf.!" Whatever Sanchi wanted to say was lost under the muffling influence of Inu-Yasha's hand.  
"Ah, she came on to me, I responded, and things sort of took off from there." the hanyou paraphrased hastily.  
"Well, geez, leave out the good part." said Miroku suddenly from the floor. THOCK! THOCK! Anouther double hit was his reward for his forwardness.  
"After we were… done, I took Sanchi back to her village again, and left the area. This is the first time I've seen her since then"  
"I almost forgot all about the incident, until I started gaining weight from the pregnancy a few months later, and by then I had no idea how to find Inu-Yasha, let alone tell him what had happened. So I waited and hoped he'd happen back this way one day. And now, he has." Sanchi smiled at Inu-Yasha, her eyes glowing with a joy that made the years fall away from her face. He smiled back, seeing the girl who had taught him some of the pleasures of love, even if he hadn't been ready for it and had fled.  
"So it was an accident. Very responsible, dog-boy." Ice cut through Inu-Yasha's pleasant mood, from the harsh tone of Kagome's voice. He ducked his head in shame, not having an answer for that.

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Phew! I don't feel like I got very far, plot wise, but at least I got how Sanchi and Inu-Yasha met out of the way. And without crossing the bounds of propriety. I'm sensing a new writer's block in my near future, at least on this story, so help me out and send ideas on where to go next. Anything would be appreciated. I can't guarentee I'll use every idea, but I need inspiration. 


End file.
